Cleaning Tips For Allergy Sufferers

When you have environmental allergies, it can be hard to bring yourself to open a window, much less stir up dust, dander, pollen or mold while cleaning your house. But letting allergens pile up in your home won’t do you any favors either. Unless you enjoy itchy eyes and sneezing fits, you need to know how to clean when you have allergies.

Cleaning Tips for Allergy Sufferers

1. Make a cleaning schedule

Those lucky people who have never checked the pollen forecast may be able to get away with letting housework slide. If you have allergies, however, it’s important to stay on top of your cleaning so that your home isn’t a trigger zone. Allergy sufferers should aim to clean throughout the week. Spread the following tasks out so that you only need to do a little maintenance each day.

2. Vacuum regularly

Brooms kick up more dust than they remove, so when cleaning for allergies you want to be certain you’re vacuuming instead of sweeping. You’ll do best to break out the vacuum cleaner — and any necessary attachments — at least twice a week so you can clean all your household floors and furniture. Additionally, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAI) recommends using a vacuum with a small-particle or HEPA filter. These filters are designed to trap tiny particles of pollen, dust, dander and so forth.

3. Dust weekly

One of the number one cleaning tips for allergy sufferers is to dust using a microfiber cloth. Other dusters are like brooms, in that they’ll just spread allergens around the house, which can trigger an allergy or asthma attack. However, microfiber is specially designed to grab tiny particles, meaning it will do a better job of removing dust overall.

4. Launder Wash bedding once a week

Your sheets may seem harmless, but they’re covered with human and pet hair, dander, pollen that crept in on your clothes, dust mites and a lot of other things you probably don’t want to think about. Wash your bed linens at least once a week using a gentle, fragrance-free detergent. In addition, vacuum your duvet or comforter at least two times a week and your mattress cover monthly. If you’ve got furry friends curling up with you at night, you’ll need to vacuum your bed linens twice weekly, too.

5. Curtains and blinds

Window treatments are natural dust collectors, so you’ll need to be mindful of them. Use an attachment to vacuum any curtains or drapes at least once a month. Alternatively, you can launder your window treatments if they’re washing machine-safe. If you have blinds, you should also clean those monthly with a microfiber cloth or a microfiber blind cleaner. (Tip: Investing in the latter can save you a lot of time and effort.)

6. Keep bathroom moisture to a minimum

It’s important to keep dampness under control when cleaning for allergies. Left unchecked, bathroom moisture can result in an increased number of mold spores floating around your home. Wipe down bathroom walls and floors with a microfiber cloth each time you shower, and leave doors open after you’ve left the room so that it can air out. You should also leave the shower curtain pulled back so that the shower sees some air flow. And don’t forget to clean behind the toilet once a week to get rid of any hair or dust that has collected back there.

7. Reduce allergens where you can

Cleaning for allergies is a lot easier when you take some preventative steps. Here are several that can reduce the allergy triggers in your home.

Water plants with ice cubes to prevent lingering pools of water that lead to mold

Don’t open your windows on days with high pollen alerts

Arm yourself with these cleaning tips for allergy sufferers, and you could find yourself breathing easier in your home. But don’t stop with keeping allergens out of your house: Download the Merry Maids “How to Stop the Spread of Germs During Flu Season” guide to learn how to disinfect your home, too.